To persevere is to be steadfast in doing something despite
how difficult it is to achieve success and Steadfastness in doing something
despite difficulty or delay in achieving success and a state of glory. In the of the revolutionary war Washington often had
to fight to keep his army over one thousand members, while being hounded by a
British army with tens of thousands of soldiers. Washingtons army lacked
sufficient weapons. They lacked proper training. They lacked basic supplies.
Disease plagued the soldiers frequently. Washington himself was even plagued by
traitors and arrogant assisting generals who were trying to displace him.
However, more than once in 1776 something happened that the continental army
could only explain as “the hand of God” helping them along the way.Financial
support from France and the Netherlands, and military support from the French
army and navy, absolutely played a large part in the continental army victory.
But in reality it was Washington and the army that won the war for American
independence. The fate of the war and the revolution rested on the army. The
Continental Army – not the Hudson River or the possession of New York or
Philadelphia – they were the key to victory. And it was Washington who held the
army together and gave it “spirit” through the most desperate of times. At
several crucial moments he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious
mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood,
and in this his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all,
Washington never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up. Again and
again, in letters to Congress and to his officers, and in his general orders,
he had called for perseverance – for “perseverence and spirit,” for “patience
and perseverance,” for “unremitting courage and perseverance.” . . . Without
Washington’s leadership and unrelenting perseverance, the revolution almost
certainly would have failed. As Nathanael Green predicted as the war went on,
“He will be the deliverer of his own country.” After ten days encamped at
Valley Forge, Washington was communicating with New Hampshire legislature,
talking about how deficient, and how exceedingly short they were of men. The
commander in chief continued to express the urgent need for additional troops
and supplies. Washington told the New Hampshire legislature to take action to recruit
more men. The outcome of the war, he stressed, depended on it. The suffering of
the soldiers at Valley Forge, and Washington’s desperate attempts to rally
Congress and the states to help them, has become legend. This was the first
large, prolonged winter that the Continental Army endured—nine thousand men lived
at Valley Forge for six months. During that time, two thousand American
soldiers died from cold, hunger, and disease. The troops who survived came out
ready and disciplined, much more ready than the untrained men who had straggled
into camp during the bitter December of 1777.
Frederick Douglass is an unforgettable figure in African
American history. Similar to Rosa Parks, a train conductor told Frederick
Douglass to give up his seat to a white passenger. This wasn't in the South
where Douglass was once a slave. It was in Massachusetts where Douglass had
already fought to be a famous author.
Instead of giving up his seat, Douglass gripped it as the conductor and others
tried to pull him up. Years of persevering through manual labor had made him so
strong, Douglass' grip ripped the seat out of the floor. That sums up Douglass'
success: persistence. Douglass never gave up in fighting for his freedom,
education and equality. Once he achieved his own freedom, he continued that
fight for others. His grandson once said, "No matter what happened in his
life, he was persistent, Once he locked on to something, he never gave
up." He was born into a slave family. His early life revolved around
immense amounts of brutality. He lived with his grandmother because his mother
worked too much to care for him. Eventually, he was separated from his
grandmother as they moved to different plantations. His master made him eat out
of a trough with other slave children. He saw slaves being whipped and was
himself whipped. Seeing that he was more successfun with a steady temper he
remained witty towards his masters. This earned him a chance to be a houseboy
in Baltimore. It was there young Douglass first heard one of his masters,
Sophia Auld, reading from the Bible. He was fascinated by the words and the
stories, so Douglass asked her to teach him how to read. She was glad to teach
Douglass to read. But when her husband found out, he was furious because teaching
a slave to read was illegal. These lessons had to stop. But Douglass persisted.
He would find boys who went to school and dare them to tell him what came after
T in the alphabet. The boys would make fun of him because he wasn't going to
school, so he would turn that around to get information from them. When running
errands for his masters, he'd find scraps of paper in the street to read. He
swapped food with other children if they taught him to read. He'd read
newspapers or books he found lying around the house until his master caught him
and beat him. The most influential book in Douglass' life was "The
Columbian Orator," which was a collection of classical speeches and rhetoric.
Douglass bought the book from money earned in doing chores outside the home and
coins found in the street. The book made the 15-year-old Douglass realize he no
longer wanted to be a slave. He made plans to escape. By this time, Douglass
was shipped to a new plantation. He made his first escape in 1836. But he
wasn't sure where he'd go and returned. This taught him if you are going to
succeed, you have to have a plan. He escaped again two years later, with a
clear plan of where he wanted to go. This time, he was successful. Douglass landed
in New Bedford, Mass. This city was full of anti-slavery activism. Douglass
attended meetings, watching how speakers worked their audience. Douglass was
particularly impressed by activist William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison's speeches triggered
Douglass to launch his own career as a speaker. In 1841, he made his first
speech. A journalist covering the speech at the time wrote "flinty hearts
were pierced, and cold ones melted by his eloquence." Speaking out was
dangerous for Douglass. The Fugitive Slave Act was in effect, so Douglass could
be arrested and sent back to his master. To ensure his freedom, Douglass went
to Europe where he raised money for abolitionists. During this time, Douglass
wrote "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written
by Himself" to counter critics who thought Douglass' eloquence could never
come from an ex-slave. The money he earned speaking and writing allowed
Douglass a solid middle-class life. With slavery still a fact, he created an
anti-slavery newspaper. Now that he was free, Douglass knew and acted upon his
own ideas. The main lesson of Douglass' life is perseverance in the face of
injustice. According to one supported, "He helped us to recognize we are
all the same, all of us can contribute regardless of our circumstances if you
just work hard and believe."
Atticus is a highly-respected character in the novel To Kill
a Mockingbird. He had spent time teaching his children important lessons in
life and also to defent African americans in Maycomb. Atticus faced many
prejudices agains him and his profession but he didn’t let that stop him from
doing his job. Atticus he dared to go against the opinions of the majority to
help Tom Robinson. He knew that he would be mocked at for defending an African
American in court since the whites are so racist. Atticus knew that the Blacks
are mostly kind and innocent (as described in the novel). Atticus pushed
throught and found s much proof to prove tom guilty, from catching with his
right hand, which didn’t make sense with the mark on mayellas face, and toms
story told to the court. Hes wasn’t going to give up until the jury came to a
consensus. But in the end, stereotypes won. Atticus even followed through with
his job by staying with Tom Robinson's one night to protect him from any gang
or people who intended to kill Tom Robinson. He was almost killed but
fortunately, Scout Finch, his daughter went up to talk to the gang of people
and thus save Atticus' life. This wasn’t where Atticus’s perseverance stopped. Mrs
Dubose often called him ugly names and foul language such as
"nigger-lover". However, Atticus did not mind as he knew that Mrs
Dubose have her own reasons to mock him and call him names. He even made Jem,
who had previously offended Mrs Dubose (for calling Atticus ugly names) to apologize
to her. Atticus knew clearly how Jem felt and the consequences he might have
but he wanted Jem to learn to be a gentleman. Atticus knew what the proper
thing to do was and was going to follow through and not break down his wall and
become upset.
Homesteaders were people who traveled to the western united
states in order to find a new life. They were promised big things and nev
amazing lives, however, in order to receive these things they were forced to
endure so much to get there. If they were to travel along the Oregon trail they
ofter encountered deaths by disease, children were crused by horse and buggies,
people drowned crossing streams, food was scarce, and starting anew was not an
easay task. They faced language barriers and homesickness and many were lucky
to even make it all the way to the west. Homesteaders who persevered were
rewarded with opportunities as rapid changes in transportation eased some of
the hardships. Six months after the Homestead Act was passed, the Railroad Act
was signed, and by May 1869, a transcontinental railroad stretched across the
frontier. The new railroads provided easy transportation for homesteaders, and
new immigrants were lured westward by railroad companies eager to sell off
excess land at inflated prices. The new rail lines provided ready access to
manufactured goods and catalog houses like Montgomery Ward offered farm tools,
barbed wire, linens, weapons, and even houses delivered via the rails. These
things made pushing through the bad times seem worth it.
